"Few orchestras in Britain would dare to perform two new works in a single programme. But, thanks to the licence fee, the BBC Symphony Orchestra can afford to take such risks." The Times
London's first permanent orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra was founded by Sir Adrian Boult in 1930. In the forefront of British musical life, it has given first performances of over one thousand works, many of which were the BBC's own commissions.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra’s chief conductors have included Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Sir John Pritchard. Andrew Davis CBE was appointed Chief Conductor in 1989 - a position he held until last year, when he became the orchestra’s first-ever Conductor Laureate.
At present, the orchestra's chief conductor is Leonard Slatkin. He is the first American to hold the post.
Past guest conductors have included Toscanini, Weingartner, Koussevitzky, Scherchen, Maazel and Haitink. The orchestra has also worked closely with many of the great composers of the twentieth-century: BartÛk, Berio, Henze, Lutoslawski, Part, Prokofiev, Schoenberg, Stockhausen, Strauss and Stravinsky.
The "flagship" of BBC serious music , the orchestra provides the backbone of the Proms concert series, including the famous last night which is televised to millions. Each January, the Orchestra celebrates a 20th-century composer in a weekend festival of music- recent festivals were dedicated to the work of Berg, Janacek, Tavener, Hindemith, Ives, Lutoslawski, Martinu and Messiaen.
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At the forefront of British musical life, the orchestra has recorded widely and is heard practically every day on BBC Radio 3. For Naxos, it has recorded Furtwangler's Symphony No.2 in E-minor conducted by Alfred Walter.
July 2001
